Girls Recap: Two Plane Rides

The season finale of Girls kicks off with Hannah’s run in with Adam’s crazy sister Caroline (Gaby Hoffmann). As Hannah gets her mail, Caroline appears from down the hall. It turns out she’s been living in the building the entire time. Caroline is dating Hannah’s neighbour, Laird, and is pregnant. This is the most normal Caroline has appeared on the show, but I’m glad to see she’s still rocking that crazy hair.

Hannah heads upstairs to open her mail. She finds a letter that has the potential to change the direction of her career. After jumping up and down in the kitchen she goes over to Marnie’s apartment to share her news.

“I got into Iowa’s Writer Workshop, which is graduate school,” Hannah says with a huge smile on her face.

Marnie is thrilled for her, but senses Hannah’s hesitation about accepting the offer and moving to Iowa. “Hannah you got into Iowa. You fucking go.”

In the next scene, Jessa has started working for Beadie, the artist she met at the gallery where Marnie works. But, her new job comes with an unexpected request: Beadie wants Jessa to help her die. “Do you know I wake up everyday disappointed that I didn’t die in the night,” Beadie tells her. Jessa wonders if the only reason she was hired was because Beadie knew she could get drugs. Although she’s compassionate to the artist’s situation, she is rightfully on the fence about helping.

SOURCE: HBO

Shoshanna is at NYU to get her cap and gown – and of course the protective plastic poncho just in case of inclement weather. But, she’s told her name has been flagged, meaning she can’t pick up her graduation package until she sees her advisor. Shoshanna freaks out and goes home to rip her apartment apart in frustration.

Marnie picks this perfect moment to drop by. Shoshanna tells her it turns out she won’t be graduating. Her glaciology professor decided to fail her, so she’s missing three credits. Marnie decides this is a good moment to tell Shoshanna she slept with Ray – more than once, sometimes multiple times in one night. She says it came from a “deep place of insecurity” and she’s not proud of it. Talk about awful timing, Marnie!

Shoshanna jumps on top of her and screams, “I HATE YOU!”

It’s about time someone tells Marnie the truth. After the beach house episode, it seemed like Marnie really wanted to work on mending her friendships. But, repeatedly sleeping with Ray could easily bring her friendship with Shoshanna’s to a definite end.

Hannah calls her parents to share her big news and they couldn’t be more excited. Once again we see her express some hesitation.

“It’s a really big choice, it’s not that simple. I mean this is where I live. I would have to find new friends, a new place to buy yogurt. Plus, I don’t really know if writing is something that can be taught,” she tells them.

Hannah admits she hasn’t accomplished much in the last four years. Her dad says, “I’m glad you’re being honest with yourself.” They tell her to go for it and the family will figure it out financially.

SOURCE: HBO

It’s opening night of Adam’s Broadway debut. Hannah stops by backstage to tell Adam how proud she is of him. He’s taught her about perseverance, commitment and creativity. Adam tells her he loves her. But instead of making the night all about Adam, Hannah selfishly chooses now to tell him she got into grad school … in Iowa.

Watching Adam succeed has motivated Hannah. “It has made me want to find a hole in the world in the shape of me and just fill it up,” she tells him.

Hannah tells him she’s going to accept the offer and they’ll figure it out after as a couple. Adam seems pretty upset. Accepting the offer means Hannah would be moving to another state.

Hannah, Ray and Elijah are waiting for the show to start. Marnie and Shoshanna show up. Shoshanna tells Ray that during intermission, he’s going to buy her some M&M’s then they’re going to have a chat. From the look on his face he knows she’s found out about him and Marnie.

Marnie heads backstage to see Desi. She says she got him an “opening night present,” a guitar pick that belonged to James Taylor. Desi is grateful and the two hug for a very long time, then suddenly they’re making out.

In the next scene, Marnie is smiling smugly to herself in her seat. She tells Hannah that Desi kissed her and Hannah points out that he has a girlfriend.

At intermission, Elijah says he’ll miss having Hannah in the city. After she walks away to use the washroom he tells Marnie the show won’t get good reviews. Marnie tells Elijah about the kiss and he warns her it won’t end well.

“I’m really intuitive about these things. I predicted two of my friend’s divorces, one pregnancy and a couple of natural disasters,” says Elijah.

SOURCE: HBO

It’s finally the moment we’ve been waiting for: Ray apologizes to Shoshanna, but he points out she was the one to instigate the breakup. Shoshanna tells Ray she wants him back. She says she made a mistake. She misses him and wants to be together.

“You make me a more stable human and you make me want to be the best version of myself. I just want to be your girlfriend again, and I want to pretend that I was never not your girlfriend before,” Shoshanna says holding back tears.

Ray says he’s eternally grateful to her. She’s challenged him to grow as a person – now he has a credit card, a job and even a cactus plant. He’s right; we’ve seen Ray’s character mature this season. Shoshanna pleads with him to get back together, but he tells her they’re in different places.

It’s disappointing that Shoshanna was not a bigger part of season three. This is the only episode where she really seems to carry her own storyline. I wish we could have seen more of her wacky hairstyles, her snarky remarks and her time being single.

SOURCE: HBO

Adam wasn’t in the first act, but he did have a major part in the second scene. Hannah is casually snoozing on Elijah’s shoulder, until he wakes her up so she can see Adam perform. Hannah is beaming, she couldn’t be more proud of him. Adam’s accent is also really adorable.

The show ends and Marnie runs into Desi’s girlfriend in the bathroom (they’re both wearing green dresses). Clementine tells her to cut the bullshit and back off, “Seriously, shut the fuck up. Has anyone ever taught you when to speak?” Marnie says they are recording an album, but Clementine says, “Not anymore you’re not.” She is fabulous.

The next scene is very touching. Jessa has decided to help Beadie by giving her the pills she requested. She holds the artist’s hand and sits by her bed as they wait for Beadie to die.

SOURCE: HBO

Elijah and Hannah are waiting outside of the theater gossiping about all the celebrities at the show. Adam comes out and they both tell him his performance gave them chills. But, Adam is pissed. He says he didn’t perform well because Hannah told him the news about Iowa before he went on stage.

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to see you,” he says.

Hannah says she told him about grad school because she thought it would be good for them as a couple. He asks if she’s leaving him and she points out he’s already moved out of the apartment.

“I’m sick of trying to work it out. Can’t one thing ever be easy with you?” he asks.

Hannah pauses, congratulates him on a beautiful opening night, and then walks away.

In the final scenes, we shift to the other girls and the problems they’re facing. Beadie freaks out and tells Jessa to call 911 because she doesn’t want to die. Shoshanna cleans up her apartment, but when she finds her textbook for the course she failed, she throws it and breaks the window. Marnie creepily watches a fight between Desi and Clementine outside of the bar.

Hannah gets home and looks at her acceptance letter. She smiles, hugs it close to her chest, and with that season three comes to an end. It’s a touching moment and great conclusion. In this scene, we realize that Hannah no longer leans on Adam for strength. She has matured as a character and is ready to tackle what’s next for her. Now that Adam’s career has taken off and Hannah has been accepted to school in Iowa, it seems the future of their relationship has been dictated for them. It will be interesting to see if Hannah will still be in New York when the show returns for season four.